Murrumba Downs Secondary College

The new year has kicked off to a tremendous start with a landmark project for PDT Architects achieving practical completion. Stage three of the Murrumba State Secondary College development and masterplan will officially open and be operational in time for the first day back of Term One, 2020. Stage three is one of the final Master Plan elements of the College design, comprising of three new learning centres spread across 18 spaces to cater for educational demands of the district. PDT has been involved with the College from the commencement of Stage One Master Planning which took place in 2012, Stage Two in 2014, and now Stage Three in 2020.

Murrumba State Secondary College opened its doors in January 2012, welcoming its first cohort of Year 7 and 8 students. Over the past eight years, the college has continued to grow and flourish, as evidenced by the development and delivery of Stage two and three of the School’s masterplan.

Stage three includes a Multi-Storey Learning Centre (MSLC), a three-level building design that aims to enhance and compliment the current Y7-12 Campus with a focus on delivering new, quality additional indoor learning spaces that overlook and interact with outdoor spaces. A key design aspiration was to retain part of the existing stormwater detention dam and tree-lined vegetation reserve, as well as the inclusion of a windmill operating as a central green space feature for the College.

A new Music Learning Centre with specialist music practice and learning spaces is collocated beside the MSLC, to further take advantage of this new green space for music learning and entertainment events. Stage Three also involved Block L refurbishment for Dance and Drama spaces, plus a new Industrial Kitchen Learning building design with TAFE level facilities for practical hospitality learning.

The ancestry of PDT’s own Project Lead Architect and Senior Associate Ray Pini is rooted deep in the history of the college’s site. With photos dating back to the early 1960s documenting Ray and his family posing in front of their family home, a site where Murrumba College now stands; what was once flourishing farmland surrounded by native animals and Mango Trees.

On the same grounds, some 50 odd years later, the emerging and vibrant region of Murrumba Downs continues to thrive. Supported by the significant establishment of The College which offers first-class learning facilities for its students. PDT Architects are proud to have designed and delivered the project in partnership with the Department of Education, Ridgemill, Evansbuilt, and Murrumba Downs State Secondary College.